People (July 21st 2010)

Men We Love

BLAKE SHELTON

AGE: 34

STATUS: Engaged to Miranda Lambert

Ask the singer what the secret of his sex appeal is, and he starts to squirm. “It wasn’t until the last four or five years that I started hearing talk like that,” says Shelton. “I guess getting older is a good thing for me.” We’ll say.

What’s so hot about a country boy, anyway?

“We’re not wusses. Country guys know how to take care of a girl. Driving down a road and you have a flat-we’re the guys that can do something about that.”

What does Miranda say is your best feature?

“How tall I am. She always mentions that, especially if we’re apart for a month or so. When we get together, she says, ‘God, I always forget how tall you are!’ ”

When do you feel your best?

“I feel the most confident when I’ve just got on my jeans, boots and an old piece-of-crap, holey, plaid shirt that I probably got back out of the dirty clothes. I put that on and I’m out doing some things on the tractor-those are times that I get back up to the house and I can tell Miranda looks at me just a little bit different, and it makes me feel good.”

Now that everyone is looking at you that way, what will you do differently?

“I better start paying attention and hitting the gym once in a while because if, as time has gone by, I’ve become a better-looking guy, then I don’t want more time to go by, and I become not a good-looking guy. Whatever I can do to freeze how I look right now, or prolong it, that is what I’m going to work on.”